Hundreds will fill the Our Lady of Victory Church, a Bed-Stuy congregation, for the funeral of the
25-year-old Omar Edwards, the police officer who was mistakenly killed by a fellow officer.
According to WNYC, police officers are lining the streets five deep for many blocks.
Loudspeakers will be set up outside the church which seats 800 people to accommodate the people who don't fit inside.
Mayor Bloomberg, bearing a detective's gold shield for Edwards' family, will eulogize Edwards. The posthumous promotion will enable Edwards' family to receive a pension based on a detectives salary of $104,000 up from $41,000.
A week ago Officer Edwards was shot to death in Harmlem by another police officer who mistook him for a perpetrator.
Edwards, whose car had been burglarized outside his Harlem stationhouse, ran after the perpetrator, a drug addict, with his gun drawn. The chase attracted the attention of three cops, including Officer Dunton.
According to witnesses, Edwards
turned toward Officer Dunton with his gun in hand. Unaware that Edwards was a cop, Dunton fired three times, killing
him.
Wow, that posthumous promotion was a very noble thing to do. Bloomberg, although he gets a bad rap, does do some noble things. I commend him for that!
It doesn’t save the day, but it is a nice gesture toward the tragic event.
Scott